[contextly_auto_sidebar] I’M STILL LISTENING, MARLON By Lawrence Christon It doesn’t happen often because it can’t. The taste of the madeleine that unleashes a torrent of memories and associations, the thing that makes you stop what you’re doing and plunges you into unexpected reverie. With me, it was hearing Marlon Brando’s voice, that strange, half-vaulted, pureed-through-the-sinuses … [Read more...]
Arrested Development
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="RyUBLjwg2HD6V10HfzwzlBlMyZ8BZLTK"] IS our culture stuck in childhood or adolescence? Are we disregarding the depths or pleasures of maturity? CultureCrash's guest columnist weighs in. "Arrested Development" By Lawrence Christon The late, great acting coach Stella Adler was holding a master class on Jean Anouilh’s “Waltz of the Toreadors,” a play in which a … [Read more...]
The Shallowness of “Mad Men”
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qq4k2gwK5FqCbEAvppoCYx8tAgWoXajG"] HERE at CultureCrash, we are split on the advertising chronicle Mad Men. Mostly, I think the early seasons were among the best television ever, even if recent seasons have become mere Age of Aquarius soap operas. Our guest columnist Lawrence Christon has no love for the show, early or late. Here is his response to the program's … [Read more...]
When Humor Misfires: Warren Buffett Edition
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="lgir0rOvQFYZoxYQdc3socyTbOjSL7EA"] Gang, I've been AWOL from the blog lately because of my new job at Salon and a trip last week to Toronto for Canadian Music Week, where I spoke on artists' rights. I expect to have some fresh, uh, content for CultureCrash one of these days. For now, here is new piece by our steady guest columnist, who like me writes about the … [Read more...]
Louis C.K. and the War Against Smugness
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Af28w71jYaGhUSvBJL3VamJOvXqLnshM"] HOW do you respond when someone handsome and callow cuts you off? Our guest columnist Lawrence Christon goes on a tear here about how we've gone wrong. With no further ado. A FEW THINGS I WISH HE’D SAID By Lawrence Christon Though spoken in a TV show, it’s one of those crystalline moments, like “Rosebud,” or “I’ll have what … [Read more...]
Guest Columnist: Has Our Inner Child Won?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ZZ6HZnil37V095gDDTpaRNbulixzlHOn"] Here's the latest from our sometime guest columnist. This one will make some noise, I expect. With no further ado: WHAT PRICE SAFETY? By Lawrence Christon A mad, obsessive ship’s captain destroys everyone on board, save one, in his vengeful mission to kill a whale. An unhinged barber slits the throats of his patrons and … [Read more...]
Farewell to Clive James
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Af3WnbX7JuSvdi2C0uLj0Xwv9IxmV5r4"] HOW much longer will the beleaguered polymath last? No one knows. But my friend and guest columnist Lawrence Christon has penned an appreciation of the great Australian-born writer. With no further ado: "THE LONG GOODBYE," By Lawrence Christon At 75, Clive James is close to the end of a battle with a form of leukemia that’s … [Read more...]
Irony’s Dead End: Guest Columnist
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="8qHfyQW4oDysZVU6d4MJpCUZbSLYZHgf"] DOES irony leads us anywhere valuable? How does cultural postmodernism fit in? These are questions guest columnist Lawrence Christon gets into today, extending a much-discussed essay by David Foster Wallace (pictured). Despite being a child of Letterman, novelists like Pynchon, and the indie-rock'90s, I'm increasingly agreeing … [Read more...]
The Forgotten Fifties: Debut of a Guest Columnist
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="FSBn2DLrnWZBS8DufCMUcy7PwGEjKVRO"] DO we misread our cultural past, especially the 1950s? Today marks the debut of CultureCrash guest columnist Lawrence Christon, a veteran arts and entertainment journalist in LA, author of a book about South Coast Repertory, and a longtime friend. Larry will be weighing in on various topics about the past, present and future of … [Read more...]